my mileage this week is a bit misleading. it includes last week’s long run which i never got around to doing and finally fit in monday night. not sure if that played a factor but by the time i got around to this week’s long run my legs were unbelievably fatigued and i had a rough go at things. at mile 11 i came extremely close to calling it quits and walking back to my car but i pushed through. my time was horrible but i need to remember that long runs are about the distance and not about the speed. the gasparilla half is now four weeks away and i need a good race. need a PR. i think that may be what finally allows me to feel i’m finally back to full capacity.

and speaking of races, i’ve added something completely different to my upcoming plans. everyone in my group knows i’m partial to trail running so when JJ and gaff decided they wanted to try and get together a team for dances with dirt ~ a 50-mile trail relay race ~ i seemed the obvious choice for them to sucker into joining them. each runner of a five-person team does two legs of five miles through fields, woods and swampland. i didn’t take well to the fact that there are indeed very likely to be alligators somewhere along the course but in the end they won me over. so in two weeks i’ll now be running on a team with them, J-man and triguy. talk about a recipe for some impending great stories! our team name is “we clean between our legs (that’s race legs you pervert!)”. yes, i know it’s a long name but it’s really just used for signage and team theme so we went with it. we plan to decorate the jeep we’ll be using on course with toilet paper and baby wipes. it should be quite the interesting experience.

emotionally this was a rough week given things with jc but i did manage to snap myself out of it and have a really good weekend. saturday i decided that i deserve to use part of my soon-to-come tax refund for a little wardrobe update and i took full advantage. i’ll be honest. as much as i love clothes, i hate to shop ~ especially at the mall! i have a little boutique i favor that keeps me from having to face the mall rats and rude sales people. not to mention, there’s something about mall dressing room mirrors that always make me feel fat and ugly. but i needed more variety than downtown divas could offer so off i went. victoria’s secret, buckle jeans, express, banana republic, j crew and more! i found jeans that make my ass look amazing. bras that put “the girls” up where they belong. cute tops and a boyfriend blazer that actually fit and flatter. last night i donned some of my new rags and met newB for dinner and drinks and for the first time in awhile felt i radiated the confidence i lost somewhere along the last six months. i’m still not fully back to being me but i’m on my way.

who needs therapy when you’ve got trails to run and a platinum mastercard! 😉